At Venerini Academy, The Troubles’ are being left in the past

Tuesday

Aug 13, 2013 at 5:00 AM

There was a time not so long ago when the very future of Worcester’s Venerini Academy was in doubt. Scammed out of about $363,000 by a professional fundraiser who promised he would raise millions on their behalf, the private, independent Catholic school went ahead with a $3-million renovation project to convert the former sister’s convent at the school into an early childhood center and elementary school space. That supposed savior, Michael Hlady, turned out to be nothing more than a con artist who absconded with the money and delivered nothing on his promise. In short order, Venerini Academy found itself in the middle of renovations it could not afford. Families started pulling their children out – one estimate pegs the loss of students between 30-40. At least three teachers left the school. The school’s student population dropped to 262. The situation was bleak and the long-term viability of a school that started in 1945 as a boarding and day school for girls was being questioned.

That, as they say, was then and this is now. In 2010, there was every reason to think the school just may have to close its doors for good. Three years later, while “The Troubles,” as co-director of Admissions Paul Jourcin calls them, still arise in conversation, the talk is far from gloom and doom. Teachers and staff are set to welcome 328 students when the new school year starts Sept. 4. By then, says French teacher and co-director of Admissions Paul Jourcin, that number could increase by two (he was expecting to meet with two prospective new pupils this week). The children from five families who had pulled them out in the wake of the financial scandal have since returned. Thirty-five to 40 teachers, including four teaching nuns, remain at the school and one of its biggest selling points – a smaller class size than traditional, public schools – remains intact. Classes for pre-K through 3-year-olds and pre-K through 5-year-olds are sold out and there is one spot each in the second and sixth grades. Oh, and the renovations that were left in the lurch when Hlady – who was ultimately convicted of the crime and served jail time – took off with the case? Done, says Jourcin, thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the Order of the Venerini Sisters, who reached into their own pockets to keep the school going.

“It’s a story of courage on the part of the Sisters, a story of dedication on the part of the staff, a story of loyalty on the part of parents and a story of trust,” Jourcin says of what appears to be a remarkable turn of events over the past three years. “The parents were willing to share their time, talent and treasures to make this little school succeed.”

Indeed, while some families turned away, others turned fiercely loyal; still others, whose children had not yet joined what is referred to as the “Venerini Family,” shrugged off the controversy and took a chance on the Edward Street school, which serves kids in Kindergarten through eighth grade.

“It took two years to make the decision to come here,” Heather Maykel says of the decision by her and her husband to send their children, 7-year-old Justin, 10-year-old Brendan and 12-year-old Alex to Venerini. They are now in their third year at the school. “In the midst of all that occurred through the crises with the fundraising … the theme at Venerini is family and everyone from the attorney who was representing Venerini in the case to the head of the Board of Trustee, was like a family to us.”

Trustee Chair Tom Marmen, Maykel says, spent two hours the day after Christmas 2010 giving her family a tour of the school. Maykel says her family was “shepherded” through the process of deciding whether to send their kids there. “We looked at families with kids who were turning out the way we hoped our kids would,” she says. “Certainly, I asked about [the fundraising scandal]. Everybody gave me information that led me to believe that would be overcome.”

The effort to right the ship started, in part, with the hiring of Dr. David Fredette as Head of School. He, in turn, brought in Jourcin, who had been teaching at St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury to teach French and help boost admissions. In addition, the school created its first-ever Board of Trustees. An Advancement Office was put in place to lead the fundraising charge.

Neither Fredette nor Jourcin is about to get into the blame game over just why and how Hlady was able to scam the school. “The people that were here were dedicated, faith-filled people who were scammed by a very engaging man,” Jourcin says. “The people that were here during the time of ‘The Troubles,’ they really had the best interest of the school at heart.”

Another area of concern at Venerini was air quality. According to a 2009 special report in USA Today, titled “The Smokestack Effect – Toxic Air and America’s Schools,” Venerini Academy ranked in the 46th percentile nationally for overall air quality. It fared especially poorly when judged on exposure to cancer-causing toxins. According to Fredette, a more recent air quality study has been done and the school “was fine.” Jourcin says there was “one parent that was concerned with mold” that he says stemmed from a leak in the school.

“We rectified that one area,” he says. “Air quality has never been an issue.”

Fredette chooses to focus on the here and now. He believes Venerini Academy has overcome its troubles and is ready to chart a new course into the future.

“I think the school is in an outstanding position,” Fredette says. “The school certainly is, if not at the top of all Catholic schools in the Diocese, then very close to it. We’re one of the few [schools] where enrollment is increasing.”

An attempt to reach a spokesperson from the Worcester Diocese for comment was not immediately successful.

While enrollment is on its way up, class size is staying down. There are 20 or fewer students in every class at Venerini, according to Jourcin, adding there are two sections for each class in every grade. The hope is that more families choose Venerini Academy – maybe even some who left during “The Troubles.” While both Jourcin and Fredette have set their sights on the future, “We can’t ignore our past,” Jourcin says, growing increasingly emotional as he talks about the school. “This forced us to rethink everything we were doing. It is now a real business model. There is not a dime spent that is not scrutinized. It really is a visceral experience for me. My whole life has been in Catholic eduction. Anyone can gain knowledge, but education with a capital ‘E’ is so much more than that.”

Have a news tip or story idea? You can reach Walter Bird Jr. at 508-749- 3166, ext. 143 or by email at wbird@ worcestermag.com. Follow Walter on Twitter @walterbirdjr and don’t miss him every Thursday morning at 8:35 with Paul Westcott on WTAG 580AM.

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